At the request of the Soliciter General, the Supreme Court will review a case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia, Pa., which overturned a conviction involving so-called "crush videos" and called the law prohibiting interstate trafficking in such footage an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.

The Restore Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act (H.R. 1018), introduced by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), will restore the protections for America’s wild horses and burros that were stripped away in recent years.

Following passage of the Shark Conservation Act (H.R. 81) in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced a Senate companion bill (S. 850) to firmly close loopholes in the 2000 ban against shark finning in U.S. waters.

Results of a joint study between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Vietnam’s Forest Protection Department revealed in May that commercial wildlife farms in Vietnam are threatening Asian animal species by depleting their populations and contributing to illegal trade.